Need some dinner ideas . . .

[DorothyB]

I'm not a very good cook (yet). In looking at planning meals for the next few days, I realized that I haven't had chicken recently. I'm trying to find something EASY and healthy to do with chicken. Any ideas??

[LoriB]

I don't eat meat, but you can do the same thing with a chicken breast.

I just put my veggie chicken patty in a frying pan with a little olive oil. Since the chicken will take longer to cook, you may want to wait until it is almost all the way cooked before adding veggies. I then wash some broccoli, zucchini, and whatever veggies. Don't dry them, just pour them in the pan over the chicken. Add some sort of sauce that you like (not much, just enough to taste). Cover.

The veggies will cook in the pan with the leftover water from washing. Takes only about 5-10 minutes for the veggies to cook on a pretty low heat.

Then, done.

I don't eat carbs with dinner, but if you do, 1/2 cup instant brown rice is fine. Cook that, put it on the plate, and pour the chicken and veggies over top.

[Trailpal]

One thing I like to do with chicken breast is to cook several at the same time. This week, I put all three pieces (that was the package size) into a round pyrex cassarole with a lid. A little olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs (I like basil and oregano, but use whatever you like), and bake at about 350 for about 45 mins (you can get specifics on the package).

That works out to about 5 portions (they were large pieces). Depending on what my week looks like, I may just leave them as is in the fridge, or if I don't think I'll eat them all in a timely fashion, I'll cut them up (largish cubes) and freeze portions in zipper baggies.

I will add the chicken chunks to a regular tossed salad - yum! or do something like Lori suggested and add them to cooked veggies. If you do the brown rice, use some of the chicken broth in place of the water to cook the rice and add the chicken at the end to warm it.

I also like fried cabbage, and will often add whatever leftover meat I have to that.

Just some ideas

[Sheryl]

Try the Cilantro chicken recipe i posted. We loved it.

Also, try this crazy recipe:

in a big skillet, but in 4 chicken breasts, cover it with 3/4 can diet cola
add 1/2 cup of either ketchup or your favorite BBQ sauce
Simmer for a long time, like 45-60 minutes. If the sauce doesn't thicken, use a little cornstarch to thicken at the end.

You will wind up with the sweetest chicken. Family loves it and you aren't getting that much soda per serving.

I have a million more chicken recipes.

[DorothyB]

ooh - BBQ sauce - good idea -

I also remembered chicken, broc & rice casserole and chinese chicken (w/ canned pineappe). I ended up not buying any chicken yet.

[DorothyB]

Lori - I'll try yours another week - I have no clue what kinds of sauces I like (other than cream of mushroom soup). I'm not crazy about stuff with little chopped up tomatoes, etc although I do like spaghetti sauce.

TrailPal - I never thought of just baking them - I would have done it dry and they would have been dry! Now I know - a little olive oil.

[Trailpal]

To get away with the minimum oil, I put about a tablespoon or so in the dish - as I lay each skinless chicken breast in, I get oil on both the top and bottom. Once they are in there, I put some water in (maybe a couple of tablespoons?), just to get some steam going and create a little broth as they cook. The pepper/salt/herbs stick to the oil on the meat and the oil helps the flavors penetrate the meat. The way I do it, it's fine for the pieces to be in contact with one another, I think it helps it to cook evenly.

[Mary Ann]

Have you ever used the spray olive oils? You can even get organic. That way you can use the absolute minimum, with even better coverage.

[DorothyB]

I use the sprays in pans sometimes before I cook. I have heard of the organic olive oil spray - but forgot about it.

[Sheryl]

I bought an olive oil "spray" and will just refill it when it is empty from my big bottle. I use that for most of my "frying" and it tastes nice without loading on the fat. I also use olive oil and butter flavored PAM. The butter flavor is good for making french toast etc (really good made with squirrelly bread).

[DorothyB]

Sheryl, Who makes the squirrelly bread?

[Sheryl]

I went to Costco this am, and had FIVE, count em FIVE choices of one point sprouted grain bread to choose from. There was 20 grain, flax etc and I thought my head was going to explode over all the choices. Of course, I wound up getting the Squirrelly bread because I was just craving the little sesame seeds and how yummy they are when toasted.

Sqirrelly bread is made by Silver Hills Bakery from BC Canada.

[DorothyB]

Darn - in the US, it seems to only be sold in Alaska, Oregon & Washington